Bourne exhibit chronicles base's past

Sunday

Dec 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM

BOURNE — A room inside the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center has been transformed into a makeshift military museum — with particular homage to soldiers who served out of Camp Edwards on the Upper Cape.

GEORGE BRENNAN

BOURNE — A room inside the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center has been transformed into a makeshift military museum — with particular homage to soldiers who served out of Camp Edwards on the Upper Cape.

Using posters donated by Edward Jackson of Falmouth, Donald "Jerry" Ellis has created an exhibit that helps tell the story of World War I and World War II.

One poster that depicts a submarine and urges investment in the "victory liberty loan" is used by Ellis to show artifacts from a 1918 sub attack on Orleans, including the front page of The Boston Post.

Jackson met one day with Ellis, who was carrying a tube filled with the colorful posters, which mostly advertise the purchase of bonds to help the war effort.

"It was all sealed up, and he told me they hadn't been opened in 40 years," Ellis said. "We were definitely thrilled with what we found inside."

Most of the posters are in excellent shape, Ellis said. One of them, rare because it has images on both sides, depicts soldiers on a hill — a dark swirl of clouds behind them. "They are giving all," the U.S. Food Administration poster states. "Will you send them wheat?"

The poster, an original, was repaired using $2,000 in Community Preservation Act money and serves as a centerpiece of the display, which continues through the end of February.

Along with the posters, the collection includes dozens of postcards specifically from Camp Edwards — some showing the large number of barracks set up on the base. Others were created during the holidays so soldiers could send them to loved ones.

Artifacts as big as a German machine gun and as small as a Leavenworth ashtray have largely been donated by local residents. Ellis knows where they all came from.

"We don't refuse anything," he said. "Any little bit can be a (clue) to something else, can help tell a larger story."

Donations are made through the historical society, which protects them from being sold off, he said. "We want to preserve and protect what's been given to us," he said.

And Ellis, who is a member of the town's historic commission, wants it to be seen and shared. He's willing to open up the exhibit to private tours for students and other small groups.

Ellis and his museum partner, Joe Yukna, hope to someday put these artifacts and others on permanent display at a Cape Cod Military Museum.

Ellis has acquired 3 acres near Aptucxet Trading Post in Bourne, where he hopes to build a $250,000 replica of a mess hall as a museum.

"We have the land to build, but I'm still waiting for that leprechaun with a pot of gold," Ellis said with a smile.

Ellis has a strong working relationship with the military currently operating at the Massachusetts Military Reservation and has shared some of his artifacts with the Massachusetts National Guard, setting up at open houses on the base, spokeswoman Lynda Wadsworth said.

"What Jerry and Joe are doing is very important to preserve the military history of Cape Cod, particularly for Mass. Guard and the history of Camp Edwards," she said. "We're grateful they're willing to share what they've found with us. ... To lose this history would be such a shame."